This invention pertains to hitches of the type suitable for connecting goose-neck arms to the beds of pickup trucks and particularly to hitches that have means for guiding the connectors of the hitches together and that have rotary portions functioning as fifth wheels.
By using goose-neck arms on trailers and hitches mounted to the beds of pickup trucks, the trucks can readily pull maximum loads. Preferably, when the trucks are not being used to tow vehicles, portions that are attached to the beds of the trucks need be quite flat so as not to interfere with normal loading. The portions of hitches remaining on the trucks while the hitches are not being used ought to be covered or be easily cleaned to facilitate use later. Preferably, any portions of hitches permanently attached to trucks ought to be adaptable to tow different trailing vehicles having different types of hitches. Guiding means is desirable to align and guide portions of the hitches together after the portions have been brought fairly close together by positioning the towing vehicles.
A hitch having part of these desirable features is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,675 issued to Barnes et al. on Sept. 24, 1974. According to this patent, the forward end of a goose-neck arm has attached to it a polygonal-shaped plate that is to rest on a flat mounting plate attached to the bed of a pickup truck and be retained by bars attached to the mounting plate. The polygonal-shaped plate has lateral sides at an angle to converge in a forward direction so that after the forward, small end of the plate is rotated to a forward position and is positioned between the rear ends of the converging bars, the bars function as a guide for centering the plate between the more narrow forward ends of the bars. After a towing vehicle is backed to engage the parts, a locking bar is positioned back of the polygonal plate attached to the goose-neck hitch between the converging bars on the mounting plate.